Summary:Ciborium has been part of a temple ever since the
oldest Christian communities started building their
sanctuaries. Columns supporting domes make basic
architectural structure of an altar. Size, material and richness
of decoration of an altar ciborium and its lateral branches
stood always hand in hand with the significance of a temple
and with the financial power of the endower.
In 1206-1217, king Stefan the First-Crowned and
Saint Sava I Serb built the catholicon of the Ascension of Our
Lord Church in Žiča Monastery which had been the seat of
Serbian archbishopric and the coronation church. After
completion of the building works, Saint Sava had the interior
of the temple decorated. The original altar septum was carved
and placed between eastern dome pilasters. Deep
proskynetaria (προσκυνητήριον) stood in front of their
western sides facing the naos. In her studies and
interpretations of the older altar septum, Milka Čanak-Medić
offered a hypothetical reconstruction of its lateral branches
shaped as proskynetarion whose construction was similar to
that of a ciborium. Judging by the position and shape of their
lines and by the degree of the transept shift from its transversal
axis towards west, it may be assumed that the original temple
design required the placement of the ciboria to allow for a
deep space in front of the altar septum housing the ceremonial
and very important stone furniture. It is possible that the base
of this proskynetarion – ciborium of Žiča served also as cover
for the holy items and not only as a flanking to the main icons.
In the late 1930s a phiale – ciborium over piscina,
designed by famous Serbian architect Momir Korunović, was
built in the southwest part of the courtyard of the ancient Žiča
Monastery. Nikolaj Velimirović, in his capacity as bishop of
Žiča, engaged vigorously in building activities in the
monastery. Renovation and decoration of Žiča included the
erecting of the phiale very probably in 1939. It was built to the
southeast of the altar apse in the Church of the Ascension and
was intended for the piscine below to keep the blessed water
for Epiphany. In the estate of architect Momir Korunović there
remained a drawing of the Žiča phiale. The executed phiale of
harmonious and well-thought-out proportions, must have
resulted from another, more developed and decorative idea of
Korunović whose drawings and reasons for their
development we do not know. If compared to locations of
known identical ciboria in the Holy Mount monasteries,
which are placed mainly in the forefront of the church and
stretching to the west along the transversal axis of temples, it
must be noted that the place of the Žiča phiale is unusual, as it
is sidelined in relation to the existing monastery buildings.
Reasons for the decision to place it in the part of the
churchyard beyond the reach of usual liturgy practice are not
clear. Regardless of these shortcomings, of inadequate and
more recent colour interventions on its metal sheet surfaces
and of lack of care for the original polychrome of the
architectural plastic which is saved only in traces, the phiale of
Žiča, although out of service now, certainly represents an
attempt to reinterpret models of the Holy Mount which has
been proved to be more successful in the field of architecture
and shape than in practising liturgy.
The bishop of Žiča, Hrizostom (Stolić), initiated
placing of the altar ciborium, work of architect Dimitrije Lj.
Marinković, in the Church of Ascension in Žiča Monastery in
2006. The altar ciborium was not to allow its columns to touch
the existing holy table at its corners where bloodless sacrifice
is offered in glory of Jesus Christ during liturgy (1 Corinthians
10:18-21; Hebrews 13:10). The analysis of the architectural
design of the ciborium indicated certain differences and
deviations regarding details between the project and final
execution of this liturgical instrument. The endeavour in the
Church of Ascension in Žiča Monastery is ever more
important since it meant intervention achieved by
interpolation of contemporary liturgical instruments in the
inside of an object registered as national cultural and
historical monument of great importance. The position of a
contemporary altar ciborium did not represent threat to the
existing holy table since its bottom in the lower part of the
ciborium remained untouched. The horizontal dimensions of
the ciborium were determined with regard to liturgical
requirements related to the central part of the altar space. Its
vertical dimensions were adapted to the volume of the altar,
allowing good visibility of preserved frescoes in the altar. It is
most important though that the Žiča altar ciborium serves its
essential task rather than the architectural one. This, however,
did not prevent its basic forms and all the assorting details to
be designed with greatest care as if it had been an altar
ciborium with no visual impediment in the front.